Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet conveyance apparatus configured to convey sheets, and an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
Generally, in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a printer, a configuration in which sheets are conveyed via roller pairs is widely known. Further, a configuration in which sheets are sucked onto a conveyor belt and conveyed in an area between a transfer portion and a fixing unit where images are conveyed in a non-fixed state is known.
Heretofore, in such a sheet conveyance apparatus, a pre-fixing conveyance apparatus is devised in which a sheet is guided and conveyed by a conveyor belt and a guide member, and the guide member is retained on a drive pulley shaft of the conveyor belt, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-88653.
In a state where the guide member is retained on the drive pulley shaft as in the pre-fixing conveyance apparatus disclosed in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-88653, the positional relationship between the conveyor belt and the guide member can be preferably retained. However, in this disclosure, the drive pulley shaft is driven to rotate while conveying the sheet, and in a case where the guide member is warped, for example, the frictional load between the drive pulley shaft and the guide member becomes excessive. In a state where the frictional load is increased, required force for conveying the sheet is undesirably increased, and the power used by the driving source and the rising of temperature of the driving source becomes too high.